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I use preset sounds for pads & leads? Most of the time if not always I mess with the presets to make them sound like something entirely different, but is this a bad habit? If I was big into sound design I could see making myself a whole pack of sounds on Massive, but I just make my wobbles in massive, no presets. Sometimes it makes me feel like a phony. A BIG FAT PHONY.

in three words: not at all

In three words: Yes now die

The people that get paid half a million dollars For one beat like Scott storch, redone, timbaland. They don't create shit. All they use is presetsthat come with their 5000 dollar openlab nikos .

If it does the job, use it.

Thinking about it, I haven't ever even come across a preset that was the exact sound I was looking for. I mean, I've heard some amazing sounds from presets like in Massive and Sytrus, but when I have a sound in mind I never go looking for it in presets. I just study the presets that I really like and then I'm that much better.

RandoRando wrote:The people that get paid half a million dollars For one beat like Scott storch, redone, timbaland. They don't create shit. All they use is presetsthat come with their 5000 dollar openlab nikos .

Timbaland using presets is actually a step up from just stealing songs and putting some drums over 'em.

Heartless wrote: Timbaland using presets is actually a step up from just stealing songs and putting some drums over 'em.

Hey now let's not be too hard on him, after all the he did invent          .


Anyway presets are meant to be used I think. Some people say they are just there as demo sounds only, but if that were the case companies wouldn't be hiring famous musicians to make presets, they would just give you some MP3 demos to hear. I've spent thousands of dollars on hardware synths, you bet I'm going to use as many of those sounds as I can haha, usually I will change it to suit what I want, but if the original sound works, then it works.

With software, there's far more of a chance for someone else to use the same sound so it's in your best interest to change it and modify it if you don't want to run the risk of hearing it somewhere else. Up to you really. Most of the people who hear it in a dance aren't going to recognise a preset, or probably won't know what a preset is. A good sound is a good sound. I've also heard many good tunes made from a single sample CD, but it didn't stop me from liking it because it was still a good tune.

theres nothing wrong with using stock sounds if they work for what you need... Think about all the rock bands in the world... now think about all the different diverse types of music that is made using the same 3 instruments (guitar, bass, drums...) granted you can tweak the sound to personalize it but for the most part distorted guitar sounds like distorted guitar... here in edm we are pretty lucky to have so many completely different sounds/instruments to choose from...

Nope, FM8 and absynth both come with some amazing presets that are very adaptable, sytrus too, the tune in my sig is full of presets, why spend an hour fiddling with knobs if the sound you want is sitting in a preset directory. Nothing wrong with it at all.

Nah. I normally recreate a patch i want to use though. At least then Ive learnt how it was constructed and then from there its easy to tweak it to fit.

Not really bad, but I would rather make my own sounds from scratch just to feel better about myself.

Here's a thread I made when I first joined asking pretty much the same thing. There's 4 pages of replies though. Enjoy

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=167600

I try to use as few presets as possible since I want to learn how exactly a sound is made. Sometimes I browse through presets though to find new techniques and so on.

90% of my pads are presets, and quite frankly i don't give a shit. All the synth lines in Intima were a preset from a free synth with processing outside the synth. They're there to be used, i think the only really important part when it comes to dubstep is original bass/midrange. Other than that range, go crazy with presets.

Benga said in his masterclass that he uses presets all the time. I wouldn't sweat it.

kaiori breathe wrote:Nope, FM8 and absynth both come with some amazing presets that are very adaptable, sytrus too, the tune in my sig is full of presets, why spend an hour fiddling with knobs if the sound you want is sitting in a preset directory. Nothing wrong with it at all.

yea absynth is full of sick presets

jeez. i can't remember the last time i went thru presets.. may have used one in a tune once.. but for the most part.. when i think of a sound i want.. it's much quicker just to make the sound then to search for a preset that is at all suitable. or just experiment if i'm not sure how to go about it, which usually ends up giving me a bunch of cool results..

If you feel like a big fat phony maybe you are? No matter the degree of worldly success in music, you're still doing it for yourself. If you're unhappy with what you are doing, try to do that which makes you happy.

Just consider, though, as other people say, well established producers use presets all the time. Whether that informs your decision is, like everything else, up to you.

jrisreal wrote:Not really bad, but I would rather make my own sounds from scratch just to feel better about myself.

come on dude